Stockton's Flores gives back to high school alma mater ahead of boxing show

Thursday

May 2, 2019 at 12:01 AMMay 2, 2019 at 10:54 PM

Scott Linesburgh Record Staff Writer @ScottLinesburgh

STOCKTON – Gabe Flores Jr. took time out from talking about his upcoming opponent to show support for his high school and one student in particular.

Appearing at the press conference on Thursday for Saturday’s boxing show at Stockton Arena, which will be telecast live on ESPN, Flores announced that he and his fight team were giving a scholarship to Chavez High senior Sherwood Ruffin-Turner, a straight-A student who works two jobs and hopes to become an immigration attorney.

“I just think it’s important to give back,” Flores said. “I know life can be tough, but you just have to keep pushing.”

Flores will meet Eduardo Pereira in a six-round lightweight bout as part of the nationally-televised main card. The show will have two International Boxing Federation title fights, with light heavyweight champ Artur Beterbiev defending against Radivje Kalajdzic, and super flyweight titleholder Jerwin Ancajas meets Ryuichi Funai.

The preliminary card is at 3:30 p.m. and the main show starts at 7 p.m.

Flores, who is undefeated in 12 fights and has five knockouts, did spend some time discussing Pereira (23-5, 19 Kos), a veteran from Brazil who is arguably the young Stockton fighter’s toughest opponent to date. But he also wanted to take care of the people at Chavez, where he graduated in 2018.

Flores recently went to the school and donated 500 tickets to the fight, and gave the scholarship for Ruffin-Turner, who was surprised when he heard about it.

“I got called into the office and I thought I was in trouble,” Ruffin-Turner said. “Then they delivered the big news that I was getting a scholarship. It was totally unexpected.”

Ruffin-Turner was given a large mock check for $1,000, but event organizer Rich Mirigian said the final amount will increase after certain items from the fight are sold after the bout.

Main event

Beterbiev (13-0, 13 KOs) will make his second title defense, meeting Kalajdzic (24-1, 17 KOs) in a battle of two power punches. Beterbiev, a Russian native who resides in Canada, said he is not looking past his opponent but does have a bigger goal in mind.

"I have a great opponent on Saturday night, but of course, I want to unify the titles,” Beterbiev said. “There are many great light heavyweights, and as a fighter, I want to test myself against the best. I want to be No. 1 in the division."

The fight will go on last. The Funai-Ancajas bout will open the ESPN telecast, and Flores-Pereira will be second.

American debut

Funai (31-7, 22 KOs) will fight for the first time outside of his native Japan.

"I am extremely excited to put on a great performance,” Funai said. “I have a strong heart, and I will be aggressive. I thank Ancajas for the opportunity, but I am here to become the new champion."

Ancajas (30-1-2, 20 KOs) will be making the seventh defense of his title. In his last fight, he fought to a draw with Alejandro Santiago Barrios on Sept. 28, 2018 in Oakland

Madera will either be on the undercard or the main card, depending on how the early bouts go. The fight will be either six or four rounds.

Stockton’s Marcos Arroyo (2-0, 1 KO) is scheduled to open the preliminary card against Jesus Godinez (2-3, 2 KOs) in a four-round flyweight matchup. The weigh in for all fighters is 2 p.m. today at Stockton Arena.

Contact reporter Scott Linesburgh at (209) 546-8282 or slinesburgh@recordnet.com. Follow him on Twitter@ScottLinesburgh

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